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This chapter examines reactions to the introduction of a new set of ecclesiastical Canons in England in 1640. These appeared in a context in which the King was already at war with the Scottish Covenanters, and at odds with an English parliament eager to put an end to controversial issues like powerful ecclesiastical courts, bishops, and altars. The Canons set out a bold new pattern of political ecclesiology, enhancing both regal and episcopal power. However, they were no sooner issued than they were declared illegal, and the chapter engages in a close reading of a pamphlet that mounted a...

This chapter examines reactions to the introduction of a new set of ecclesiastical Canons in England in 1640. These appeared in a context in which the King was already at war with the Scottish Covenanters, and at odds with an English parliament eager to put an end to controversial issues like powerful ecclesiastical courts, bishops, and altars. The Canons set out a bold new pattern of political ecclesiology, enhancing both regal and episcopal power. However, they were no sooner issued than they were declared illegal, and the chapter engages in a close reading of a pamphlet that mounted a focussed defence of the constitutionalism of the Church, which is linked directly to concepts of liberty. However, where some have interpreted these debates as the forum for a rising tide of political radicalism, this chapter argues that the reform of the defects of the Church was the preferred course of defenders of the laws of reformation.